Day In The Life

I thought I would try something new today and move my little “Day In The Life” series from Instagram over to the blog for a change. I always love a good peek into someone else’s everyday life. So for anyone interested, here’s a little snapshot — ha, well lots of little snapshots — into a what a normal Wednesday tends to look here in Barcelona.

¡Que disfrutéis!

6:45am: Our friends would tell you that Barclay and I are officially the only people up at this hour in Barcelona. ;)

But hey, 7am the only time that works for me and my Spanish tutor (who’s actually from Barcelona, but lives in Italy and has to be at work early) to meet together. So twice a week, we both roll outta bed early and log onto Verbling and make it happen. Big thanks to my sweet husband who always makes me iced pour-over to “take to class”.

7:22am: Workin’ on those masculine and feminine articles today. (Turns out if you put the the word la in front of cometa, it goes from being a comet…to a kite!)

8:02am: Found this handsome fella in the kitchen making us breakfast after my class.

8:12am: I still can’t quite get into egg yolks. (Sorry, just not a big fan of their texture any way that they are cooked!) So my sweet husband makes me fried egg whites sprinkled with a lil’ everything bagel seasoning…and they are delicious.

8:32am: Getting an early jump on cooking today because I’m hoping to shoot three recipes this morning. I usually like to shoot content for the blog about two weeks out, but I’ve fallen behind this spring with all of the visitors we’ve had passing through Barcelona. So I’m hoping to do some good catching up today (along with my #1 little crumb catcher).

9:40am: Excited to catch up on some pods while I work this morning too — Tara Westover (loved her book) on SuperSoul, Brené on Goop, plus the latest episodes of The Daily. (All so good.)

9:45am: Alright, time to shoot! First up today — the quickest and easiest and most delicious little gnocchi. (You’re gonna love these!)

10:42am: Next up — a very special no-knead bread. After staring at this one for 20 minutes, though, I actually decided that I wasn’t happy with the styling and am going to redo it tomorrow. (Maybe also with white parchment paper?)

You may have also noticed that a food photographer’s camera is always coated in crumbs. Hazard of the job! ;)

11:08am: Cuddle break with this cutie.

11:38am: Finally, last shoot of the morning with my new favorite mezcal cocktail.

(Yep, cocktail shoots always happen in the mornings around here, since that’s when the light in our apartment is the prettiest.) :)

12:29pm: Barclay’s working from home today, so he offered to cook up a brown butter sage sauce for the gnocchi for our lunch.

12:30pm: Wowza. ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

12:35pm: Lunch break with Trevor! Catching up on an episode we missed last week while our cousins from New Zealand were in town.

1:00pm: Annnd back to work. Quick glance over today’s new blog post, then onto email and photo editing.

2:20pm: Whoops, forgot that we have an appointment today at 3pm. Squeezing in a quick workout and shower (finally) before heading outta the house.

Our current lease here is up at the end of the summer and currently all options are still on the table about what’s next for us. (Stay in our current flat, move to a different flat, move out of Barcelona…we haven’t decided yet!) If we do decide to stay in Barcelona, we’re interested in possibly investing in a place here in the city center. So we’re starting to poke around and learn more about the home-buying process here in Spain (very different than in the States) and see what our options might be.

3:00pm: The flat we are visiting today happens to be near my favorite little street in Barcelona. Always makes me smile. :)

3:10pm: Cute, cute, cute…but not quite right for us. We met a very nice new realtor, though, who has another flat that she wants to show us next week. So, vamos a ver.

By the way, one thing that’s different about real estate here in Spain is that realtors can typically only show you the properties that their specific agency has listed. So instead of working with one designated realtor, who can show you any house on the MLS, you meet lots different realtors as you search around the city.

3:30pm: Happened to spot these beauties on my way home…

3:35pm: …couldn’t resist. One can never have too much fresh basil, right?! I also restocked our fresh menta (for all of the mint mojito iced coffees we’ve been making lately) and picked up some tulipanes (because…spring).

Also, shout-out to my friend, Megan, who gave us this Apolis market bag as a wedding present. We use it literally everyday to carry everything around here in Barcelona, and it’s our absolute fave. So strong and durable and cute, plus we love the story of the company behind it. Thank you, Megan!

3:45pm: Found these two taking a little siesta. ♡♡♡

3:50pm: Back to work for a few more hours. Since dinnertime in Spain isn’t until after 9pm, we do lots of afternoon snacking!

6:55pm: We also try to drink tons of water here at home, especially since you have to pay for it at restaurants. This one is my favorite aguas con gas — I consider it the Topo Chico of Cataluña. ;)

7:00pm: Catchin’ up on Marco Polo with some friends from the States. This app has become one of our go-tos, especially when having to navigate 7 or 8-hour time zone differences.

8:15pm: Annnd off to dinner….Spain-time. Love that it’s so light out in the evenings now!

8:55pm: We walk pretty much everywhere in Barcelona and love it so much. Haven’t missed driving once since we’ve lived here.

9:00pm: Dinner with some friends across town at our favorite, no-frills, all-you-can-order sushi joint.

Most of the sushi restaurants in Barcelona offer a “buffet” where you can order unlimited things on the menu which — as you can imagine — can often result in some pretty sub-par sushi. But we happened to find this hidden little gem of a restaurant about a year ago with the most amazing sushi (and miso soup, and fried rice, and gyoza…which all only costs 15€/person). So ever since, we all try to pretty much as often as possible. ;)

11:25pm: Even a “quick” dinner in Spain lasts at least a few hours. We were pooped, so we decided to skip the walk and take a bus back to our neighborhood.

11:45pm: If you come to visit Barcelona, you will notice that no one is on the streets here at 7am. But everyone’s still out and about around midnight…even on a weeknight!

12:05am: A few pages of my friend, Sarah’s, new book(affiliate link) before bed.

42 comments on “Day In The Life”

Sure, it’s called Chiku Yo Tei. It’s not in an especially convenient location, but we love it. Be sure to book a reservation ahead online if you decide to go — the secret’s out and it’s been really busy there the past few months. (We’re especially partial to the seto, kyoto and mango rolls!)

So lovely to see that you two are exploring life and living! It is the best way to grow and the best way to understand yourself is to understand others. Your appreciation for the cultures around you are obvious and it is refreshing. I am watching your videos over there on the right side of my screen and they are so simple and great! Keep up the great work and … I am older and don’t use instagram so much (ok not really at all) so I LOVE this format. Thank you!!
Espero que tinguis un bon dia!
Rebecca
(Barclay’s former Hi Hat customer, neighbor, and friend!)

So much fun and thanks for sharing your life in Barcelona! Great photographs, too! I absolutely love Barcelona, much like I love Paris…. and often think of living in both places …especially these days.

I’m excited to say my daughter invited me to come to Barcelona at the end of this month and beginning of June. This is a business trip and we will be staying in La Rambla for most of the nights. However we are staying a few extra nights and plan done day trips to the beach or to wine country. I remembered I follow your blog so I’ve gone back and read up on your suggestions. So excited!
Love your posts!

hi ali!
this post was delightful and so informative!
would you please tell us how you chose your tutor on
Verbling? i looked at their website and they have tons of spanish tutors; wondered how you narrowed your choice down?
gracias!
deb

Loved this little peek into your lives in Barcelona! I’ve had Barcelona on my to visit list for a while and after traveling Portugal for a month two years ago, I’ve wanted to visit Spain even more. Will have to make it happen! :)

I always enjoy seeing your Day in the Life in Instagram Stories, and it was nice reading it on your blog this time. What a wonderful idea to bring it to your blog. That sounds like a great day. That brown butter sage sauce on the gnocchi looks incredibly delicious. And how exciting that you are considering buying a house in Barcelona! If you do decide to move to another European country, may I suggest Italy? ;) Of course, I don’t know what the visa process is like there; I just know that the food is incredible!

Loved this and would love to see more of these! Just started following you on Instagram as well. Would love to know what you think of the Ayurveda book (or your thoughts/experiences with Ayurveda in general). It’s something I’m curious about and would love to read your perspective on it. Thanks for sharing!

You, Barclay and your fur family are absolutely magical! I know I am one of thousands upon thousands who feel like your family is part of OUR family.

So, with that in mind, how are you doing? The photography with this post is reassuring. But know that as you soldier through the physical pain situation, you have a full battalion of people who would do anything to help you feel better.

My sister-in-law in Kansas told me about your blog because we are headed to Barcelona. Now I’m hooked (and following). Because of your blog, we are so excited to have a gastronomic adventure in Spain and especially Barcelona. Thank you!
(Plus when we return, I’m going to try the ricotta gnocchi. They look delicious.)

I find it amazing that you eat so late and the day starts so late there. What time do people go to work for a Monday-Friday job? I start at 7:30am and can’t imagine a later start. I also like to eat dinner at 6pm and be tucked into bed at 10! hahaha. So NOT the night owl.